Irish Conclude Season At Cal

BERKELEY, Calif. – The Notre Dame Fighting Irish (12-17, 5-15) concluded their regular season against the Cal Golden Bears (15-17, 7-13) on Saturday afternoon. The Irish fell in four sets (25-15, 23-25, 20-25, 22-25) on the road. 

Sydney Palazzolo led the Irish with 13 kills and 8 digs, as she joined the 1,000 digs club in the match and finished her career with 1,002 digs. Palazzolo is also a member of the 1,000 kills club, surpassing the milestone last season.

𝟏,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐃𝐢𝐠𝐬 ✅

Palazzolo is officially a member of the 1,000 kills 𝘼𝙉𝘿 1,000 digs club 👏 #GoIrish☘️ pic.twitter.com/XpUb017Unh

— Notre Dame Volleyball (@NDvolleyball) November 30, 2024

She was followed by Grace Langer with 11 kills and 5 blocks. Ella Sandt chipped in 6 kills and 9 digs while also dishing out 31 assists. Anna Bjork and Mallory Bohl finished with 6 and 4 blocks, respectively. Hattie Monson recorded a team-best 13 digs. The Irish offense started off strong as a Langer kill, a Monson service ace, and a Cal attack error further extended the Irish lead to 13-7 to force a Cal timeout. The Irish led 19-15 before closing it out with six straight points as a kill from Langer sealed the deal on the 25-15 win. 

It was back and forth in the second set with the Irish up 14-12 before a 3-0 run from Cal put them in front 15-12 at the media timeout. A 4-0 Irish run capped off by a Sandt service ace gave Notre Dame an 18-16 advantage, which resulted in a Golden Bears timeout. 

Tied at 20-all, a kill from Langer and an ace from Trump made it 22-20. A block from Cal was followed by a kill from Sandt to keep the Irish in front 23-21, but the Golden Bears would go on a 4-0 run to take set two 25-23. 

Heading into the third tied at 1-1, the Golden Bears carried their momentum into set three as they claimed an early 7-1 lead. The Irish chipped away as back-to-back kills from Schrader coupled with a pair of Cal attack errors brought Notre Dame within four at 12-8. Notre Dame trailed 18-9 before going on a 6-1 run to bring it back within four at 19-15 and force the Cal timeout. The Golden Bears closed it out with straight points to win set three 25-20. 

A Sandt service ace would put the Irish up 10-9 in the final set, but the Golden Bears would go on a 7-1 run to take the lead 16-11. A Palazzolo kill tied it up at 19-all as the two squads would trade points to make it 21-21, but a kill and a block from Cal would give them a 23-21 edge to force a Notre Dame timeout.